


Cage Mentality

by Chansey



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-01
Updated: 2014-07-01
Packaged: 2018-02-06 23:01:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1875780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chansey/pseuds/Chansey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one is sure of when it had happened. After 100 years of being under their rule, the titans disappeared. The realization of this did not come easy. Being trapped within the walls for so long, we had accepted that they would always be there. We would always be trapped like cattle. As we became more and more aware of what was going on, life inside the walls had changed. More people had started to disappear. Funding the for Scouting Legion's expeditions virtually stopped. The preachings of the Wall Cult increased astronomically. And, in the midst of all this chaos, an epidemic broke out. Perhaps, the cost of humanity's freedom from the titans was a price we could not pay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Night

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fanfiction I'm writing in years, so it isn't going to be very good. This is also the first work I'm uploading on here.

_In the year 850, Eren Jaeger had graduated from the Training Corps. It was then discovered he had the ability of shifting into a titan. A battle between the Scouting Legion and the Military Police broke out in regards to which branch of the military would gain custody of Eren. After a winning the trial, the Scouting Legion brought Eren to their former headquarters, located deep within the woods in Wall Rose. There, training of the new recruits started for the expedition that would take place in only a month._

 

         ♖ Mikasa found herself once again looking for Eren. Dinner had just ended and night had fallen. While the new recruits chatted loudly in the mess hall, she was staring intently out of one of the windows. However, in the darkness that only thing that was visible was the shadows of trees. Even the torches that burned brightly outside offered little help. Mikasa looked back inside at the mess hall, and once again scanned it. It didn't take her long. As with every year, the recruits for the Scouting Legion were few. Such a small, dimwitted bunch of soldiers that crowded only one of the tables seemed like an insult to the building. The mess hall was grand, with rows and rows of tables and an innumerable amount of chairs. Despite it's massive size, the room seemed defeated. Only one corner of the room was lighted, the rest surrendered to darkness. The once sturdy-looking beams of wood were splintered. Although Levi's squad had vigorously scrubbed the entire building spotless, they could not wash away the amount of years it had accumulated. Mikasa could easily see, once again, that Eren was not there. A sense of panic had started to wash over her. Her breathing grew uneven as she thought of every terrible thing that might have happened to him. She struggled to surpress this feeling, knowing very well that it wouldn't do her any good. It hadn't done her any good in the past, and now was not the time to let her emotions get the better of her. She breathed in slowly, holding the breath within her lungs for a few moments before slowly letting it out. She pushed her chair back as she stood up.

"Mikasa?" It was Armin. He had been sitting next to her, listening to one of Connie's enthusiastic stories. Now he looked up at her.

"I'm going to look for Eren." Mikasa told him, not looking at him but rather at the door of the mess hall.

"I'm sure he's okay!" The doe-eyed boy stood up as well. "We shouldn't be wandering around this late at night."

"And why not?" Mikasa looked at him then, vemon in her voice. "You saw what that pint-sized man did to him. Do you think that I'll just leave Eren alone with him?" Armin didn't answer. He shrank before the black-haired woman. He hadn't meant to make her upset. He only wanted to make sure that she didn't get into any trouble. Mikasa's expression softened then. "I'll be back soon. Don't worry." With that she left the mess hall. Armin watched her as she walked away and closed the old, creaking door behind her. He looked back at the other recruits. Connie had stopped telling his story during the whole ordeal.

"Geez, what's her problem?" Connie remarked. "I sure feel sorry for Eren." Sasha flashed him a dirty look, but with a mouth pull of potato she couldn't respond. Still holding the potato between her teeth, she reached over and snatched up the small loaf of bread Mikasa hadn't eaten. The corners of Armin's mouth turned down. He took his seat again.

"What the hell's so special about him?" Jean had murmured under his breath. His head resting in his hand, he was still staring at the door.

 

        ♖ Outside of the mess hall, things seemed a bit brighter. The torches held more of the darkness at bay than Mikasa had originally thought. She made her way along the illuminated path to the other side of the castle. By walking outside, she saved herself the trouble of dealing with the veterens who had been in the hallway leading to the mess hall. She re-entered the castle through another door further down the hallway from the veterans. Flattening herself against the wall, she looked over to see if they had seen her. They hadn't been paying any attention. Mikasa turned the corner and descended the staircase that lay behind another door. She had seen many veterans disappear behind the same door and down the same staircase before. She was certain that Eren would be at the bottom of these stairs. There was no other reason for them to come down here. It must lead to the dungeon. She had no doubt that Eren would be in the dungeon in this castle. Back then, they had treated him like an animal. Although Eren wouldn't tell her, she knew there was a prison located underneath the court back then. She knew that he must have been kept there. Just the thought of her only beloved family member being treated that way... It made her blood boil. Her pace quickened, her hands curled into fists. If she had ever seen that shortie again...

"What are you doing down here?" Speak of the Devil and he shall appear. Mikasa had heard this from Armin long ago. Now, no other saying was better suited. There Levi stood, a candelabra in hand. It was difficult to tell from his bland expression whether he was angry to find her here, or just bored. Mikasa gritted her teeth.

"Where is Eren?" She demanded. Levi closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"The expedition is in 2 days. Is now really the time to be sacrificing your sleep to look for him?" Levi didn't send her away, however. Instead, he turned and started to lead her to where Eren was. A part of him could sympathize with the girl. Mikasa hesitated for a moment before following him.

"Why is he down here?"

"That's the term of the agreement." Despite the acrimony in her voice, Levi kept his calm and even. "We can't have him biting his tongue and turning into a titan in his sleep. Down here he's easier to control." Mikasa wanted to spit. Had she not swallowed her saliva instead, she was sure that the anger that leached out into it could have burned a hole in the stone floor. Even better, it might have burned a hole in that small man's head if she could get her aim correct. Upon seeing Eren, however, all of Mikasa's anger dispersed. A great amount of relief washed over her and she quickly ran to the cell. Gripping the bars tightly, she leaned in as close as she could.

"Eren!" She called. "Eren, are you okay?" Eren opened his eyes and sat up. Shortly after finishing the dinner that Levi had brought to him, he had felt himself overcome by immense exhaustion. He had laid down to try and rest, and now he was pulled out of his fast approaching, much desired, slumber by Mikasa.

"Mikasa?" Eren replied, groggy at first. "What the hell are you doing here?" His fatigue quickly gave way to irritation.

"I needed to see if you were okay--"

"I am okay! I'm just fine!" Eren snapped. "I don't need you breathing down my neck all the time!" Mikasa flinched slightly at the words, and backed away from the bars. "The expedition's in 2 days! Why aren't you sleeping and getting ready?"

"I'm sor--"

"Don't apologize! Just get out of here!" Eren threw himself back down into the bed and pulled the covers over his head. The chains around his arms clanked loudly. Mikasa stood still and just watched him. She couldn't bring herself to say anything. She knew that it would be best if she didn't.

"Come on," Levi said quietly, walking closer to Mikasa after a he felt that the silence had dragged on for long enough. Mikasa simply nodded and followed him. Things were tough right now. She could forgive Eren for his outburst. God only knew what he was going through.

 

         ♜Mikasa and Levi's footsteps grew softer and softer until Eren could no longer hear them. He had hoped to find sweet, longed for sleep after they had left, but it didn't come. He lay in bed, hoping that it would come back. He was so tired. As sleep finally started to fall upon him, Eren started to cough. The inside of his chest felt as if it were on fire, but he was too weak to do anything but cough. Globules of blood came out and stained his sheets, but Eren hadn't noticed. After his coughing fit he had fallen asleep.


	2. Carnage

       ♜ On the day of the expedition, Eren was in a panic. He wasn't scared of the expedition. No, it seemed as though he had been waiting for this day his whole life. To finally enter titan territory, as they had entered his. To finally make them pay for what they had done... Eren was worried because he hadn't been feeling well. When he had woken up yesterday morning, he found that a splotch of blood was covering his sheets as well as a good chunk of his arm. But recently he had sustained all kinds of injuries. He thought that perhaps it was just leftover from the beating he had sustained, or a side effect of shifting into a titan. He didn't tell Levi, or Hanji, or anyone else about it. He was worried not only of them postponing the expedition, but of Hanji using it as an excuse to conduct more weird experiments on him. It wasn't that bad, anyway.

       ♜ The next morning, the morning of the expedition, he had struggled to get out of bed. The night before he had thrown his blankets off of him in a fit. He was still burning up, his stomach in immense pain. He curled up into a ball and started to shake. It was all he could do to keep at least some of the pain at bay. Petra had come to get him that morning. He downed the mug of water she had brought him and almost immediately, the pain went away. It made it all the more easier to pretend that nothing had happened. He went above ground and ate with the veterens. He listened intently the set of orders Levi gave him for the expedition. Afterwards he went to see his friends. Mikasa still looked upset, albeit relieved to see him out of his chains. For a moment he thought of apologizing to her. It was only for a moment. He was sick of her constantly babying him and if he apologized now, she would never stop.

As they got ready to head out, the pain in Eren's gut returned. He grabbed his stomach and dug his nails in. As saliva started to collect in his mouth, he staggered away.

"Eren," It was Petra. "Where are you going?"

"I-I'm just going to the bathroom." Eren called back, trying not to sound too panicked.

"He probably needs to take a shit before we go," Levi said, walking up behind Petra. "Let him go." Petra looked back at Levi. Since he didn't seem too concerned about Eren's odd behaviour, she decided not to worry. She nodded to him and returned to grooming her horse.

       ♜ Eren didn't make it to the bathroom. He had just gotten behind the building, out of sight before he dropped to his knees. An arm over his stomach, he started to heave. Whatever had been building up in his stomach was forcing its way out. He lurched forward and gagged. Blood started to pour from his mouth, along with the remnants of his breakfast. Eren was horrified. After he was sure he was in no danger of vomiting again, he stood up and kicked as much dirt as he could over it. He wiped his mouth, and walked slowly back.

        This was bad. He knew it was bad. He _knew_ he had to tell someone. But doing that would threaten the whole expedition. Him and everyone else had waited far too long to have their long trained-for counterattack drawn to a halt just because he had a stomach bug. He could deal with it. He decided he could tell Hanji after everything was done. For now, he would just focus on destroying as many titans as he can.

       ♘ The soldiers were ready, standing before the great gate. Villagers gathered around to watch. Many of them made offhanded comments on the whole event. _There was the great commander, Erwin Smith, leading the newest herd of cattle to their final resting place._ A few men in the crowd snickered. Jean, overhearing some of the comments, bit his lip and looked down. His hands were shaking violently. Too keep himself from turning around and barging through the other nervous recruits he thought of Marco. He was doing this because of Marco. Back then, when they had found themselves at the mercy of the titans, Marco had called him a coward. Somewhere, deep in his heart Jean hoped that Marco was still watching. He wanted him to see that he was no longer a coward. His grip on the reins tightened and the shaking died down. He wouldn't run away. He didn't run away during the ceremony, and he won't run away now. _He's not a coward anymore._

       ♔ All of the soldiers in the Scouting Legion were on edge, pitifully frightened, and rightfully so. All except the veterns of the Scouting Legion, who have shed blood and seen blood shed around them too many times to count. The gate started to rise. Erwin gave his command. And the soldiers charged out into the open field beyond the walls and out into the mercy of the titans.

The entire brigade covered a large amount of land before the first titan was spotted. Smoke shot high into the air and the troops changed directions. What followed was a very, very long journey. It would have been dreadfully boring if every soldier wasn't edge and on high alert for another sighting of a titan. Hours passed without another sighting. For Commander Erwin, this should be a relief. However, he found himself disturbed by the titans absence. Were they waiting somewhere for them? No, that was ridiculous. No titan was capable of such high-level thinking. Was there something else that held their attention? Erwin was shifting through the possibilities when he heard Hanji scream.

"Hanji?" Erwin straightened up in his seat and looked over at the woman. There was no doubt she had seen a titan. As expected, Hanji rushed off. During such an uneventful expedition, Erwin assumed that she might do something like this. This time Levi wasn't there to go after her. Instead, Moblit chased after her, the poor man calling her name miserably all the while.

　

       ☣ It was something Hanji had never seen before. A titan, lying on the ground, unmoving. As she came closer she quickly hopped off her horse and approached it. The titan saw her. It gave her a wide, toothy grin and groaned.

"Hi there!" Hanji called. Slowly, she walked closer to the titan. "What are you doing out here? Don't you see all those humans." She kneeled down in front of it. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Squad leader!" Moblit practically screamed. He had almost fallen off of his horse in a hurry to get to her in time. Once he had reached her grabbed her by the arm and yanked her forcefully back. "Please, you could be killed!" He started to drag her back to her horse.

"Moblit, wait!" Hanji yelled back, pulling her arm free. "He's not doing anything!"

"That doesn't mean it won't--"

" _Wait._ " Hanji stared wide-eyed past the titan. She slowly started to walk forward again. This time Moblit didn't stop her. He saw it, too. Beyond the titan lay a graveyard that reached beyond the horizon.


End file.
